Vampire over Cambridgeshire today [Archive]

Idle Reverse

24th Jun 2020, 15:14

With such an eerie silence within the Cambridgeshire skies of late (other than the very occassional Lakenheath / Mildenhall jets) what an absolute delight today to see and hear a beautiful, sleek Vampire gracing the sky over Ramsey / Upwood way. It was obviously enjoying itself up there, in the clear blue sky and sunshine, with a few gentle wing overs, 1/2 Horiz '8s and 1/2 Cubans. It was here about midday. Watching it took me right back to my early JP days up at Linton.

I'm sure there must have been several ex-RAF chaps lazing / working in their gardens around here ( it was very much an Air Force area in days gone by) and so I wondered if any others saw it ? . . . though how could they have possibly missed it ?!!? The colour scheme was the normal silver / grey and I'm guessing it may be Duxford based, perhaps ?

But I was wondering if anyone knows any more about it ? Is it Duxford based ? Who owns it / flys it ?

Whoever it was, please do come again; I'll be in the garden for the next month or two ! :D

ExAscoteer2

24th Jun 2020, 16:07

T11 WZ507 owned by the Vampire Preservation Group based at Coventry made 2 flights today.

GeeRam

24th Jun 2020, 19:02

T.11, WZ507 is now the sole remaining airworthy Vampire in the UK.

Rallye Driver

24th Jun 2020, 19:54

It used to be based at North Weald. Here is an A2A of it over the QE2 Bridge

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/v165/YakRider/LondonPass1000.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://app.photobucket.com/u/YakRider/p/2cdb7912-1b19-4100-9027-9af643d74b8d)

An interesting take off

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/Vampire1-1000_zpsaf35b0a5.jpg

And returning to land

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/YakRider035/.highres/Vampire%205-1000_zpsf6k9eevv.jpg (https://app.photobucket.com/u/YakRider/a/5f61417c-4489-492f-a8da-531268eaf35f/p/299099df-756b-432b-9ee8-4ae8e7648d09)

brakedwell

24th Jun 2020, 20:02

That brings back a few happy memories.

tmmorris

24th Jun 2020, 20:20

Was it that aircraft which ripped up a chunk of runway at Halfpenny Green?

Bill Macgillivray

24th Jun 2020, 21:26

Brilliant, so many memories - thank youi!

Bill

Hot 'n' High

24th Jun 2020, 22:32

What a sight! I well recall as a kid seeing the Vintage Pair out of Little Rissie back in the 70's playing over Gloucestershire in the good old days. Great to see one still flying as believe the VP duo were sadly lost in separate accidents - along with crew directly/indirectly. Here's to many more safe hours in the air for that T11!

NutLoose

25th Jun 2020, 00:11

Beautiful.... simply Beautiful.

tarantonight

25th Jun 2020, 05:46

A closer look at the landing image gives the impression the pilot is wearing a shirt and tie.

Now that is going to work in ‘the office’!

TN.

Fonsini

25th Jun 2020, 06:14

Let’s not forget the men and women who assembled that jet 70 years ago, most if not all of them probably long since dead, but the quality of their work lives on. Something I would imagine they were really proud of.

brakedwell

25th Jun 2020, 06:56

Not quite all the work was top notch! We had a brand new Vampire T11 arrive on the line at RAF Swinderby in 1956 that everyone wanted to fly. I was lucky and got my hands on it very early on for a solo medium level aerobatics sortie. Half way through a high speed loop there was a loud bang and the plane flicked violently. I levelled off and looked out at the left wing, which was trying to drop and had changed colour from silver to green. During my return to Swinderby I had to hold up the wing, more particularly on finals to land. The aircraft was dismantled and sent to an MU and we received the result of the inquiry a few weeks later. One wing had been made at De Havilland Hatfield and the other at Broughton Cheshire. As they were different one had to be built up with filler to match the other! Normally they were in pairs, but this Vampire was not, even though it looked wonderful!

RetiredBA/BY

25th Jun 2020, 08:21

NutLoose

25th Jun 2020, 09:32

That said, have you ever driven into the new village on what was the domestic site, it's alive and vibrant.

brakedwell

25th Jun 2020, 09:45

.....and did it come back to Swinderby?
I was on the last course at 8 FTS, there, and remember one aircraft which became quite “excitable” at high Mach numbers, well, high Mach numbers for a T11 ( .8?).

Cant say the looked particularly beautiful in 1964, getting very tired !

So sad to drive past Swinderby on the A46 to see its state if dereliction.

As an 18 year old they were all beautifull, especially the new ones, although I preferred the single seat Mk5's and 9's even though they looked clapped/worn out.

Rallye Driver

25th Jun 2020, 10:35

The norwegian Air Force Historical Squadron operates a single seat Vampire along with a trainer. They have used North Wedald as their summer airshow base several times. These images are from their 2016 visit.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/YakRider049/.highres/Vampire%201-1000_zpsj3feavn2.jpg (https://app.photobucket.com/u/YakRider/a/af374027-dfc6-45a6-ad47-d4084fcdc6d0/p/e748bbbb-3ffd-4d6a-9cd4-e3621571ee52)

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/YakRider049/.highres/Vampire%206-1000_zpsabu4pbhd.jpg (https://app.photobucket.com/u/YakRider/a/af374027-dfc6-45a6-ad47-d4084fcdc6d0/p/e426ffd5-cbb8-47c4-a1b3-6aa0f94ed8a4)

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/YakRider049/.highres/Vampire%204-1000_zpsxjnwxxor.jpg (https://app.photobucket.com/u/YakRider/a/af374027-dfc6-45a6-ad47-d4084fcdc6d0/p/88b4b314-fd92-4177-9766-e706b962a80a)

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/YakRider051/.highres/Vampire%206-1000_zpsnfkwxcql.jpg (https://app.photobucket.com/u/YakRider/a/42ea6e2c-0aa7-4752-b078-ac584cf43a01/p/38e3f320-0483-4d53-a1b9-969d61e5cbcd)

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v165/YakRider/YakRider051/.highres/Vampire%201-1000_zps4fozseat.jpg (https://app.photobucket.com/u/YakRider/a/42ea6e2c-0aa7-4752-b078-ac584cf43a01/p/836a8801-e8b4-4c87-9df1-1da28e388125)

pontifex

25th Jun 2020, 13:20

I could never see the attraction for the T11. It was very sluggish compared to the 5s and 9s although it did have bang seats and a fire extinguisher! But nothing could compare to the T33.

brakedwell

25th Jun 2020, 14:23

pontiflex, you were obviously trained in the prairies!

RetiredBA/BY

25th Jun 2020, 20:15

That said, have you ever driven into the new village on what was the domestic site, it's alive and vibrant.
Well, yes I have, but perhaps age is catching up with me. I still remember it as the place when as a spotty faced youth of 19 I was let loose in a high (Ish) performance jet ! . Living in the excellent mess AND getting paid for it,

Nearest experience I had to flying a Mosquito !

Ah, the memories !

Phileas Fogg

26th Jun 2020, 00:12

One wing had been made at De Havilland Hatfield and the other at Broughton Cheshire.

Broughton is in Wales, Cheshire is in England!

rotorfossil

26th Jun 2020, 05:28

Vampire and Venom boys book by Steve Bond due out this year. My memories of the T11 was the cramped cockpit and it handled like a truck compared to the 5 and 9. Good memories of Swinderby and Oakington as an instructor in the early 60’s when we actually had an Airforce,

brakedwell

26th Jun 2020, 07:30

Broughton is in Wales, Cheshire is in England!
Big deal! Phileas Fogg

RAFEngO74to09

26th Jun 2020, 16:23

A few nice ones over here in the USA as well: https://vampireairshows.simdif.com/aircraft-specifications-.html

Fareastdriver

26th Jun 2020, 19:16

So I have been told though I have not seen it was in the days where pilots were trained on T11s and then fly solo on the F5. The T11 had a single fuel gauge calibrated in lbs up to IIRC 1,400 lbs for the four wing and one fuselage tanks. The F5 had five individual gauges calibrated in gallons. These were mounted in front of the pilot behind the control stick.

The observation was that when a student did his downwind checks in the circuit there would be a frantic wing waggling as he moved the stick from side to side adding up the gallons to make sure he was above minimums. This was because the aileron response was far quicker then a T11 and looking inside he wouldn't notice.

brakedwell

27th Jun 2020, 09:17

Very interesting Fareastdriver. I have had a look at my logbook for 1956/7 and found my Vampire training hours which were 71 hours dual and 8 hours solo in the T11 with 44 hours solo on the Vampire 5 and the odd 9 we had. I cannot remember any difficulty checking the fuel state on the FB5 and 9, but we had airframe problems with them, especially towards the end of the Swinderby Course. Two FB5's crashed during mid altitude tail chases and then several of us said we had experienced what felt like elevator control reversal when at high IAS and a highish Mach number around 20000 feet. (They had just shown the film The Sound Barrier in Lincoln, but I don't think it affected our reports!) Several De Havilland engineers arrived after the second crash and started to measure the old FB5 and 9's. Most were bent and a high number were outside limits I remember. Nearly all the tail cones were declared dangerous as they were badly dented and could have disturbed the airflow! All the single seaters were grounded for about a month and repair work was started. We were transferred to the hangar and spent a week cleaning the single seaters with a revolting liquid we named virgins pee, then got about half a dozen back and completed the course, which had been extended by four weeks. Happy days!

MPN11

27th Jun 2020, 11:09

Never been in one, but talked to them a lot at Shawbury during my ATCO training! Operated by pilots from Marshalls, they gave us a bit of 'reality' on top of the simulator training.

There's a Facebook video that I can't seem to link ... "RAF Shawbury - Blue Peter 1969"

Herod

27th Jun 2020, 14:19

I grew up with them, as a teenager living at RAAF Pearce in Western Australia. Vampires overhead every day was probably the final push towards an aviation career. Gives me a soft-spot for them.

Warmtoast

28th Jun 2020, 11:07

Saw my first T.11 at 5 FTS (RAF Thornhill, S. Rhodesia) in 1953 when this aircraft WZ416 visited during a sales tour of Southern Africa. Tour was successful as both Rhodesian and South African Air Forces purchased the type.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/640x466/thornhill_vampire_t11_on_sales_visit_e97987b6964a7d208e2741f 84694ef8e96c21bb0.jpg

This T11 belonged to 41 Sqn at Biggin Hill photo taken in 1955
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1801x1199/41_sqn_vampire_t11_fd329e21650497bf8cba807c11a4b32d05fb7c71. jpg

Fareastdriver

28th Jun 2020, 11:43

One can see the problems in trying to bailout of what was effectively a Mosquito's canopy. Unfortunately when they installed the ejector seats it restricted the pilots luggage arrangements when whizzing off to the Smoke for a dirty weekend.

The picture also graphically illustrates why they had to redesign the fins to get acceptable stability in yaw.

BEagle

29th Jun 2020, 08:00

Living less than a mile away, my earliest childhood memories were of the Vampires flying from RAF Merryfield!

Plus the occasional Canberra. Also the Sabres and Wyverns of Westlands, then came the RN with Sea Venoms whilst Yeovilton was being upgraded for the Sea Vixen.

pulse1

29th Jun 2020, 08:44

As an ATC cadet I used to spend occasional weekends unofficially helping to refuel the FB5 Vampires (and 1 Meteor 7) of 614 sdn RAFA at Llandow. Distinct memories include having to hold the tail down to clear a "wet start", the 14' flame that came out of the back end when it did start, and the piercing, high pitched noise from which my hearing never properly recovered. 614 also had a Meteor 8 which was a bit of a hangar queen. I was told that nobody wanted to fly it because they were afraid of the ejector seat.

brakedwell

29th Jun 2020, 08:57

pulse1, that reminds me of my first solo in the Vampire FB5. Eleven days after two solo and four dual trips in the T11, it was time for the FB5. After getting strapped in a couple of ground engineers took hold of the tail and lowered it to the ground. That was the maximum nose up before it scrapes the runway, they told me! Then it was light the engine and off on my first most enjoyable FB5 solo in WA227 on November 27th 1956.

treadigraph

29th Jun 2020, 09:15

An ex Irish AC Vampire won the Jet Class Gold at Reno in 2015; unfortunately it was badly damaged the following year in a forced landing following a canopy failure and a subsequent engine problem; apparently the wreck is still dumped at Stead Airport. Another has competed since then; life in the old blood sucker yet!

Ray Darbouy

29th Jun 2020, 11:20

Dad's old photos. Aden, 8 Sqn, circa 1955, chaps in the shed...

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1000x714/8_sqn_vampire_aden_8347c12b5b5f82bcec87c550b7f320a195c69f91. jpg

brakedwell

30th Jun 2020, 08:17

Another Aden picture of 8 Sqn Venoms. Taken in early 1958 after delivering a load of Paratroops in a Hastings

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/2000x1351/8_sqn_venoms_aden_6bfd90e5a2634d771f6426c788b5eee724b7f2f5.j peg

Quietplease

30th Jun 2020, 13:43

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/640x480/7de271ca_d210_437d_85ed_8de29103413f_b3976be79ab82f6ea06842e c7f754f7a24e7392b.jpeg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/640x480/a608728a_83f4_42e2_b4d2_e343f3d60c5a_251d7695bbf15d00195c88d bec243aa0ec55a0cc.jpeg
Swinderby 1957 E Flight Stan Sollitt leading
Very easy to fly. 6.15 to first solo with only 95 hours total. All our course made it through. Wings with 201 hours.
Never a great fan of the Vampire. The 11 was exceedingly uncomfortable and no spinning or negative g in the 5.
Second single seat solo was my only flight in the 9.
Gear, flap and speedbrake all hidden away in the back left hand corner. Very easy to get the wrong lever so speedbrake was deployed with a clenched fist as the other two had detents.
The ramp could be spectacular at night with lots of wet starts.
My memory ( possibly defective) was the high speed dive problem was caused by the tailplane skin movement producing blanketing shock waves so the elevator was ineffective until the Mach No.reduced. Thought the mod was to replace with heavier duty Venom tailplanes. Whatever, my instructor had the dubious honour of doing the post mod airtests.
What a treat to go to the Meteor.

sycamore

30th Jun 2020, 22:53

Q,presuming the last photo is of a barrel-roll ....!

Phileas Fogg

1st Jul 2020, 13:42

Big deal! Phileas Fogg

Plans to cut 1,700 UK Airbus jobs have been described as "utterly devastating" by a Welsh minister. (http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-53243139)

"Mr Skates said a "significant share" of the job losses were expected at Broughton, in Flintshire"

brakedwell

1st Jul 2020, 14:51

Phileas Fogg, it is very sad news indeed for those who work there and I am 88.4 percent Welsh, but what has it to do with the Vampire T11?

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1198x1810/john_t11_copy_44f0c0902084fcf1d154f1fb4820eccbabff3622.jpg